New group aims to protect immigrant workers

One group of immigrant workers was denied workers' compensation rights, another group did not get paid overtime for extra hours worked and, at a third site, a worker was severely injured but was afraid to challenge his employer.

By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff

Posted Jul. 23, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 23, 2008 at 11:02 PM

By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff

Posted Jul. 23, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 23, 2008 at 11:02 PM

FRAMINGHAM

» Social News

One group of immigrant workers was denied workers' compensation rights, another group did not get paid overtime for extra hours worked and, at a third site, a worker was severely injured but was afraid to challenge his employer.

To help those workers pursue their rights, a new organization has surfaced in Framingham, said its director, Diego Low, filling a void in the region.

A local organization, called the MetroWest Immigrant Worker Center, recently opened an office on Union Avenue, but it has been active since it was founded last fall by doing outreach work through local churches attended by immigrants, Low said.

With a recent $40,000 grant from The Boston Foundation, the center hopes to continue its education and advocacy work through workshops to inform workers of their rights and provide legal assistance to help them file complaints with the attorney general's office.

The group's main work would be to help immigrants navigate the system, and since a large portion of the immigrant workforce is in the country illegally, Low said his group will work with them.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors immigration restrictions, an estimated 5 percent of the nation's workforce is here illegally.

But Low said in an interview in a Brazilian coffee shop in downtown Framingham that "their immigration status makes them desirable workers."

"It also makes them the most vulnerable. They're low-cost, compliant and docile. We want to tell them it's possible to stand up for their rights despite their immigration status."

Contrary to what many people think, illegal workers have rights. Although in the country illegally, those who work are entitled to be paid for their labor and overtime. If they are injured on the job, they are eligible for workers' compensation coverage, said Low, who has been advocating for immigrant workers' rights for the last 25 years.

Low said his work is for the benefit of workers in general.

"Unless we address the illegal exploitation of immigrant workers, we cannot defend decent wages and better working conditions for the general community," he said. "By seeing immigrant workers as the problem, we are re-victimizing the workers rather than understanding that unscrupulous employers are the fundamental problem."

Illegal immigrants would not be here if they could not find employers who are willing to turn a blind eye for the sake of hiring cheap labor, he said.

Many workers here illegally are facing difficult times, said Low. Over the last two years, immigration agents have tightened their grip on workplace enforcement by conducting raids in big factories and plants across the country and by filing criminal charges against illegal immigrant workers who have been found using fraudulent Social Security numbers purchasedbought on the black market.

While some people have praised the increasing workplace enforcement as a way to dry up the job market for illegal immigrants, others worry the situation could make illegal immigrants more vulnerable to exploitation.

Page 2 of 2 - "It's driving them farther into the shadows, which makes it more possible to exploit them," Low said. "If they don't allow undocumented workers to speak up, we're creating the conditions under which their rights are being violated."